Cold store operators at the Asafo Market in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, say they are gradually losing their business due to erratic power supply.
Speaking to Kwabena Bobie Ansah on Accra100.5FM’s Citizen Show on 8 April 2021, a cold store operator, Mama Gyaamah, indicated: “We use electricity in our work”.
“From the beginning of this year, we have been experiencing intermittent power cuts without any prior notice from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)”.
“This same ‘Dumsor’ issue and its attendant negative effects on our businesses are the main reasons we voted out the erstwhile Mahama government and voted for President Akufo-Addo.
“So, if we will have to go through this again, we have not made any progress,” she said.
She also noted that some cold store operators are still struggling to repay loans they took from the banks and other creditors during the Mahama administration when Dumsor was at its peak.
“So, another round of Dumsor will mean that more debt will be accumulated and we won’t be able to work to repay”, she complained.
Asked how the cold store operators felt about the current power situation, Maame Gyaamah said: “Very disappointed”.
“If I say that my fellow cold store operators and I are not disappointed, it’s a lie”, adding: “Because we didn’t vote for him to draw us back, we voted for progress, to pay back our debt and forget our worries”.
“So, if there is a situation like this, the President and his vice and the energy minister must address the issue with ECG and meet organisations like the Cold Store Operators to inform us,” she added.
